Bashing And Praising Ray Allen, All In 140 Characters

Tweets from around the state show some bitterness, as well as those who understand his move to the Heat

July 08, 2012|Jeff Jacobs

The Connecticut sports fan isn't the Boston sports fan. New England geography makes for as many nuances as gaping differences. And that's why I asked through the wonders of Twitter for opinions about Ray Allen after he agreed Friday night to join the Heat.

Or did Ray do an honorable thing by turning down about $2.5 million more offered by the Celtics to pursue more championships?

"From a professional standpoint, I get why he went there — to win," John Zorzi tweeted. "From a personal standpoint, he gets his UConn pass revoked."

Jeff Beck, UConn and Boston fan, tweeted, "Always liked Ray. But I find this to be lame. Took the easy way out. Don't care it's less $. Anywhere else [would] be fine."

"Took a significant pay cut to have a better chance at winning a ring," Colin Kupfer tweeted. "Class act."

"Ray is one of UConn's greatest ambassadors," Jon Matzner tweeted. "He deserves a shot at another ring."

That's two tweets for and two against, and if you think that adds up to a 50-50 split, that's not what our unscientific Courant poll shows. Asked if Ray was a traitor or if he did the right thing, a whopping 92 percent of 377 votes cast by 6 p.m. Saturday were in support of the former UConn great.

In a SportsNation poll on ESPN.com, 64 percent were in support of Allen. On Boston.com, 7,466 votes were split this way: awful news [22 percent], Allen can be replaced [34], all good things must end [26] and Celtics will miss him [18].

None of this quantifies how hard the hard-core Celtics fans will be on Ray when he shows up in a Heat uniform at TD Garden. Remember those T-shirts after Johnny Damon left for the Yankees? "Looks like Jesus, acts like Judas, throws like Mary." What are they going to say about Ray? "Looks like Jesus Shuttlesworth and acts like LeBron James." Damon, now with the Indians, received a warm Fenway welcome this May for the first time since bolting the Red Sox in 2005. Boston can hold a grudge.

Erik Eichler tweeted: "As much as I hate the #Heat and think they are buying talent like the #Yankees, #RayAllen has to do what he had to do."

Tom Shaw tweeted: "As a UConn and Knicks fan, couldn't be more upset. Hard enough having him in Celtics uniform. Heat is worse."

This much we do know. So many Connecticut fans can't stand the Heat. Maybe it's the price LeBron has to pay for using the Greenwich Boys Club for The Decision.

TJ McConachie tweeted: "Championships mean more than money at this point. Perfect fit."

Matt Farrell emailed: "Puts Boston fans' egos back in check as they realize their blue-collar anti-Heat squad isn't as loyal as they thought. This hurts Boston fans much more than it hurts Ray's long-term public reception. He's too likable a guy for resentment to linger."

"As a 30+ year UConn fan & a hater of all Boston sports teams, I couldn't be happier. Probably not the demo you're looking for," Matthew Edwards tweeted.

Au contraire, Josh and Matthew — that's the beauty of Connecticut sports. The state is ripped apart by New York and Boston allegiances and tied together by UConn.

Danny Maher went 18th century in his email: "With all due respect to Nathan Hale, Ray was our state hero … Ray going to the Heat (a team becoming full of Benedict Arnolds) is yet another shot to the heart this season for UConn basketball fans. We'll forgive him, but for the next couple years, you are the enemy — you let us down Ray."

Brian Zmarlicki of Southington emailed: "Ray Allen's gonna take half the money and betray Garnett/Pierce to play for the Heat. Nice going."

Here's my favorite. Adam Rivers tweets: "Sox suck, Ray's leaving, next thing you know my mom is gonna call and tell me Santa isn't real … You don't spend ¾th of your life having a favorite player and not care when he goes to the enemy."

Dan Agabiti, sports editor of The [UConn] Daily Campus and a Celtics fan, emailed: "Allen made a decision in regard to what's best for him. It's not about the fans at all … Best of luck to him! [But not LeBron]."

You get the feeling that if Ray signed with the Clippers, nobody would be comparing him to Damon.

"Could have gone to any other team and it would have been fine," Brad McMillan tweeted. "Just got the knife out of my back this morning."

A word of advice, Ray: Avoid dancing in the smoke at your introductory press conference and going, "not two, not three …"

Erik Sarnowski tweeted: "I love Ray! I guess I'm a Heat fan now!"

"After toiling in MILW & SEA before BOS, I don't begrudge him 1 bit," tweeted Robert Townes of Milford, a Lakers fan who said he was friendly with Allen at UConn.